Because of you

1

Meredith Grey woke up by the ringing of her alarm. She sighed, she would have to stop by her parents to check in on them before she went to work

She stepped out of bed, immediately putting on one of Derek's sweaters to keep herself warm as she was just wearing shorts and a shirt

She immediately stepped into the shower and washed her hair and body, enjoying the warm water on her skin, trying to ignore the anxious feeling she felt because she would rather not stop at her parents' house. After the shower she went to grab herself some coffee, as always she never had breakfast at home without Derek. She'd stop by at the coffee stall in front of the hospital and buy a bagel or a donut instead and then spotted one of Derek's notes

'Good morning Mer. I can't wait to see you later, I love you.'

Meredith couldn't resist to start smiling, Derek really was perfect

...

Meredith had just parked her car in front of her parents' house and slowly stepped out of the car and walked inside

"M-Mom? Dad?" She walked inside, hearing absolutely nothing which was odd

"Goddamnit Meredith! You're gonna wake him up!" Ellis started cursing

"S-Sorry." Meredith said as she saw her mother appearing

"What are you doing here?" Ellis crossed her arms, looking down at Meredith

"It's wednesday.. I usually help you out with dad.." Meredith quietly said while looking down

"Goddamnit, Meredith! You're a doctor, or at least trying to become one, and you can't even look someone in the eyes and speak up!" Ellis yelled, causing Richard to wake up

"E-Ellis?" They heard a weak groan

"I'll go." Meredith quickly said, knowing Ellis was rather rude with her dad

"MerMer?" Richard looked up

"Hi dad. How are you feeling?" Meredith checked his temp. His breathing sounded quite steady and he wasn't as weak as he had been a few days before

"Perfect every time I see my princess." He smiled weakly and made a poor attempt to lift his hand

"It's okay." Meredith whispers and links their hands. "Are you hungry or thirsty?" She asks, knowing he was soon gonna pass away. He was absolutely exhausted, he had done everything to fight his illness, to fight the cancer in his body but he had to give up.

Even if Richard wasn't Meredith's biological dad, she loved him more than her biological parents. She hadn't seen Thatcher in years since he left her as a kid, and Ellis was the rude and awful woman she's always been, diagnosed with Alzheimer's years ago but Richard insisted on looking after her, even when he got ill

Meredith was always worried about her dad, and now she was overwhelmed. She is scared to lose her dad and she's scared to be left with mother, even with the help from Derek it would be a lot so she's going to a home, also because she has been violent towards Meredith in the past, something Derek was furious about

"Will you be working today?" Richard asks Meredith

"Yeah, I'm going to the hospital once I'm ready here." Meredith nodd and helped him take a sip of his water

"You don't have to stay long, I don't want your mom to start yelling at you again. We'll be okay, the nurse will be here in a bit

"I'm here to see you, dad. I will be okay." She said, really wanting to spend time with Richard

"When will we see Derek again?"

"I think soon. He's working and.. you know he gets upset around Ellis." Meredith explains

"He doesn't know you're here?" Richard assumes

"Hmm.." Meredith shrugged, her boyfriend indeed didn't know she was here

"You should have told him." Richard softly said but bursted into a coughing fit

"Okay dad- it's okay-" Meredith helps him to sit up a bit more and rubs his back until the coughing stopped and she adjusted his oxygen

"It's okay, honey. You should go to work." Richard said once he had recovered his breath

"Thanks dad. I love you and I'll talk to you later." Meredith placed a soft kiss on her dad's pale and shaky hand

"I love you too." Richard softly said and watched his daughter leave, hearing her say goodbye to Ellis but nothing in response, he sighed, he had always loved Ellis but never understood how she could be so cruel to someone like Meredith who always meant things well and who desperately wanted a mother that loved her

Meredith got in her car and started driving to the hospital. She was thinking about her dad once again as she suddenly saw a car ignoring a red light and speeding towards her, she still tried to brace herself but before she even knew it everything had turned black...

Yoohoo, my 29th story.

Thanks everyone for giving ideas, I promise I'll update tomorrow as this is only the start of it. <3

The title of my book is also a little reference to Eurovision as I'm extremely proud of Gustaph 🇧🇪🇧🇪